Oxygen is essential for life. In humans, oxygen plays a vital role in the breathing process and in the metabolism of living organisms. When oxygen is no longer being received into the body, death occurs. However, even slight reductions in oxygen intake can have significant impacts on the body. Decreased oxygen supply to the brain can cause mental performance to wane; however, increasing oxygen supply may improve alertness, reflexes, and memory, and may aid in the treatment of various neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, motor neuron disease, etc.
There are a number of reasons that a person may experience decreased levels of oxygen. In some instances, there is a medical explanation (e.g., blood clots in the lungs) that contributes to an individual's inability to maintain the desired level of oxygen. In other instances, loss of oxygen is due to the person's physical location. For example, those at high altitudes are known to have lower oxygen levels than those at lower altitudes, especially in persons that are over 50 years of age. One affliction affecting nearly 30% of all adults is snoring. Snoring is the result of obstructed air movement during breathing, usually while sleeping. While there are several known or suspected causes of snoring, often more concerning is the correlation between a person's snoring and other health concerns, such as daytime drowsiness, irritability, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and sleep apnea to name a few.
Varying treatments exist for treating low oxygen levels, ranging from providing a person with pure oxygen to dental appliances to arranging a surgery in an attempt to decrease snoring. However, these treatments are often uncomfortable and inconvenient, require long and/or painful recovery times, and/or are not meant to be employed both at night and during the day. Therefore, apparatus to aid in achieving increased levels of oxygen would be beneficial.